08golf’s;paRticipation;pRoblem
these days, golf’s participation malaise—fueled by issues of time,
access and difficulty—rivals the economy as a discussion point
whenever the game’s civic leaders gather in one place, as they did
last week at the pga merchandise show in orlando. but the crisis—if you want to call it that—gained a prominent spokesman when
Jack nicklaus, speaking at a symposium to promote “golf 2.0,” the
pga of america’s ambitious initiative to grow the game, revealed
that among his 22 grandchildren, only one (nine-year-old g.t., the
son of Jack’s son gary) plays golf “more than a little bit.” consider
that for a moment: in a family known for its enthusiasm for sports,
with (presumably) no barriers of access or cost, led by a grandfather
considered the greatest golfer who ever lived, and who raised three
of four sons to become golf pros, exactly one of 22 grandchildren has
gravitated to the game. the golden bear, as involved as any grandfather could be, says it’s because golf is being “out-organized.” “other
sports are grabbing kids’ attention and time,” nicklaus said. “soccer,
lacrosse, football, baseball, basketball … [as a result] they don’t have
the time to play golf, and they are not being introduced to it. we have
to fix that. we need to introduce golf to them in a way that is friendly
and [that provides] early success so they stay with the game.” golf
has plenty of pressing matters, but youth participation might be the
weightiest. if Jack nicklaus can’t get his grandkids to play golf, what
hope do the rest of us have? —Geoff Russell (@GW_GeoffRussell)